Synopses & Reviews
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the YearIn 1991 Emily Piper is a graduate student finishing her dissertation on metaphysics, when her home and work are destroyed in the Berkeley-Oakland fires. With her life's work in cinders, she retreats in shock to the small coastal town of Mendocino. It is here that Emily becomes hesitantly involved in the early days of Net chat rooms. Soon, Emily, dubbed Pi, wanders into the quixotic thoughts of JD, a mysterious figure living on America's opposite coast. What develops is a tentative, stimulating and perilous relationship. Who is JD, and furthermore, who, now, is Pi? This is the highly original, multilayered story of two lost souls whose charged connection gives new meaning to the "mind/body problem."
Review
"A brainy and ingenious story . . . Ms. Brownrigg's novel is vital, provocative and written with wit and wenturesomeness . . . Captivating."—
Richard Eder, The New York Times"Witty and smart . . . The Metaphysical Touch is a serious and intelligently wrought piece of fiction."—Geoff Nicholson, The New York Times Book Review
"This sweet, smart, sexy first novel humanizes cyberspace." —Newsweek
"A convincing meditation on the thorny neither/nor-ness of the Web."—Los Angeles Times Book Review
About the Author
Sylvia Brownrigg is the author of a forthcoming collection of stories, TEN WOMEN WHO SHOOK THE WORLD (FSG), and received her degree in philosophy from Yale University. She was born in California and currently resides in London. THE METAPHYSICAL TOUCH is her first novel.